


The Phoenix Square

by Emechan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Acceptance, F/F, F/M, Harry Potter Next Generation, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Secrets, isn't it cool to have a gang?, no possible tags apply to this siriusly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-03 11:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1070068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emechan/pseuds/Emechan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On her first year in the Hogwarts Express, Rose meets Scorpius by chance and they become friends despite their families history. Making more friends along the trip, the school year looks promising...and even more when this mysterious girl introduces them to a secret group which James himself is part of.</p>
<p>"The colours of a tie have nothing to do with the pulse in the neck wearing it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A flash of red and green

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! First of all, my English is not native so forgive me for my possible mistakes (and feel free to point them so I can improve!).  
> Second, there's a lot of original characters because 1. They're inspired in real people and 2. It helps me expand my imagination. So if you're very canon-ish I don't think  
> you'll like it (though you can give it a try!).  
> Third: enjoy and comment please!

**1.1**

On September 1st 2017, London has one of those days where it was rainy grey in the morning but at the moment the sun shines fiercely through the clouds, creating little blurry rainbows. That's the view a passenger from the Hogwarts express is enjoying as it leaves the station. She sighs. She knows it's stupid, worrying so much; her parents and uncles are always talking about the wonders the school offered. But as much as people is always saying it, she doesn't think she's as intelligent as her calm mother, and besides... There's this thing with the houses. The whole family have been Gryffindors, so what if she doesn't end up there? She wants her parents to be proud of her, and her father was so obvious at the station... They have been real-life heroes, for Merlin's sake. How can she...?

A strong noise interrupts her thoughts. At the door there's this really shy boy that looks guilty after crashing that way into the wagon.

"Are you okay?", she asks.

"Ye-yeah, sorry, I'm a little clumsy and...", he keeps his voice lower and lower as he speaks, until it dies in a whisper.

She looks at him carefully. There's something familiar about him... Hair that looks like wholly licked by a giraffe, and shadowy grey in his eyes... Ouch. Her father has said something before.

"Happens to all of us", she shrugs and looks again through the window.

"To me it happens all the time", he mumbles as if only to himself.

She doesn't really want to (what if her father gets mad?), but then she faces him again and says:

"It's a good thing you already have that on", she points at his robe, "the others will have to change while we're travelling, and this train moves a lot", she frowns, "I guess they've been using the same old machine for... _ages_ , so it's nothing to be surprised about."

He looks at her. Hesitates. Then sits next to her.

"My mother didn't want me to go to Hogwarts, you know. She mentioned something about how old-fashioned everything was about this school. But my father insisted and he's not much the discussing-issues type", he looks at the floor as his sentence turns again into a weak whisper.

They both fall silent. She thinks about her parents and can't imagine a similar picture. For a smart kid like her, that's almost the first time she's out of words. Nothing she can say is going to do any good, yet this silence has to finish...

More people enters the wagon, and they both jump at their seats.

"Do you mind if we stay here? There are no more empty wagons left", a girl with two ponytails says with a half-broken smile.

"We still have to put our robes on", this time it's a red-dyed girl speaking, whose eyes are glowing with the excitement of the unknown. _She's probably Muggle-born_ , the first passenger thinks, and smiles as her mother comes to her mind.

"We have no problem at all", she looks at the shy boy, who nods with agreement.

"Thank you", the red-dyed smiles widely and hurries to close the door after another girl (brown-haired) comes in, but a boy manages to get inside.

"How come you haven't changed yet and still you are so relaxed? We're almost there!", with brown hair and eyes, he shakes his head with disapproval. "Look! They are ready", he points at the two children, who feel a little overwhelmed by the sudden amount of people in their wagon.

"I like to be prepared", the girl shrugs her shoulders, "but that doesn't mean the rest does" she adds, making the brown-haired boy frown.

"I had this on because my mother made me", the blonde boy says in a shy low tone.

"Since we're sharing the wagon now we should introduce ourselves", the blonde boy admires the confidence that the fire-haired girl shows. She acts almost as if the wagon is hers and she simply _allows_ the kids inside.

"I'm Sarah River and I'm Muggle-born", the red-dyed girl says with her wide beautiful smile.

"I'm Sasako Kei and I'm Japanese-born", the ponytailed dark-haired girl jokes, her voice a little softer tone than her friend.

"Um, Helen Ross", the brown-haired girl simply says

"I'm Charles Wander, and I'm going to be a Ravenclaw, and a Prefect someday", he waves his hand in a _I'm sure of that_ gesture.

The rest of them look at each other, but no one says a thing. Feeling his cheeks burning, the blonde boy says:

"My name is Scorpius... Scorpius Malfoy."

The silence that falls after that is thick. Scorpius can't look at anybody, and starts begging to himself that the girl he already admires speaks soon. He focuses on the red-dyed girl, who seems confused and looks directly at him searching for an answer. And then...

"My name is Rose Weasley, and you all better stop making such stupid faces or leave for good."

That's the moment when Scorpius feels like home, for the first time in his yet short life.

**1.2**

The train finally arrives to its destination, and everyone starts jumping out of it. Sarah asks Scorpius to help her with her trunk, and everybody else laughs except for him, explaining in a whisper. She smiles thankfully and grabs his hand to run after their new friends.

"First year, first year, kids, come with me!", a very strong voice says, and when the owner of that voice appears, Scorpius trembles. A half-giant! He thinks he's heard about something like that, but doesn't remember where or when. Then she sees Rose running directly to that big man, and hugging him with a happy scream.

"Hagrid!", he watches his new friend holding with her little hands to the furry coat of the man, who picks her up like she's a feather with a loud laugh.

"Lil' Rose... yer finally 'ere, huh?"

"We're going through the Great Lake, right?" Scorpius finds himself smiling at the sound of that cheerful tone. But -hang on- _Great Lake_? He shivers right before Sarah pulls him to where the land ends and a bunch of little boats are waiting for their new passengers.

"Don't stay back, Scorpius, they're already inside one!", the red-dyed hurries, and they jump into the boat just in time. "But where are the rowings?" As Sarah asks, the boats start moving like pulled by invisible ropes, and Scorpius gives her a shy smile. The children make a little jump at their seats when Hagrid, that is also in their boat, shouts instructions to the rest.

"Don't yah dare put a small finger in the water, yah moron!", a little boy screams when the water starts waving right where he was going to put his hand. Nobody else dares touching the water.

"What... what do you guys think lives down there?", a brown-skinned, quite Hispanic girl asks, taking a curious but careful look outside the boat.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about", a brown-haired girl with a sweet smile answers. She seems to mean it, but at the same time looks afraid too.

"Hi, who are you?", Rose asks with her confident tone.

"Liz Beaumont", the girl answers with the same sweetness.

"Oh! Are you French?", Sarah asks with her _everything's so new_ tone.

"My dad is, and I grew up there, but my mother is English and they decided I should come to Hogwarts after a discussion about which school was the best", they all smile.

"You're quite nice for a French", Rose says.

"Rosie, that's not nice to say", Hagrid shakes his head but smiling a little.

"I mean, I have French family", she quickly adds, "so I've been to France sometimes, and in general they are..."

"It's okay, I'm used to it", Liz sounds tender every single time she speaks. They all quickly consider her for their new-born group of friends, and then Scorpius says with his peculiar tone:

"What's your name then?", he asks to the Hispanic-looks girl, who's going through a book without paying attention to the rest.

"Oh! I'm Caroline Song", she also has a beautiful smile, that shines through her brown skin. "My sister is already at Hogwarts and I hope I end up in the same house."

"Which is...?", Sasako asks.

"Ravenclaw" she pronounces it proudly, as if she already belonged in there "Where do you think you're going to?"

"We're going through some kind of skills test to know it?", a bit worried Sarah asks.

"Don't worry, it's just an old hat which somehow reads your mind and chooses the house that suits you the most", Rose waves her hand totally unworried.

"And how does it do that?", Helen clears her throat before she talks, so her voice can be clear enough to be heard by everybody. She isn't used to talk to so many people.

"It knows who has read the most books so he or she can go to Ravenclaw and beat the rest of you up in grades", Charles says in a little pedantic tone.

"Sure, and how many have you read? The ones with drawings don't count", Rose replies.

The rest of them laugh and Charles looks to the other side, as if they are not worthy of his presence.

"I have no clue about where I'm going to end", Scorpius says to himself in a whisper, that only Sarah hears, so she grabs his hand and squeezes it with a smile.

"No matter what house we end up in, we're still going to be friends, right? Even if one of us is Gryffindor and the other one Slytherin?", Scorpius looks surprised, and she smiles. "Well, I don't know a lot of things but I did some research before coming here. Do you promise? Even then?"

He's sure she's going to be a Gryffindor. She's so brave and willing to help him, even when she's the one that knows almost nothing about the world she has recently jumped in. Will he be a Slytherin? He knows he's expected to, but... He doesn't like the idea. Like he doesn't like the mark imprinted in him just because of something his father did in the past. He's always only _the son of Draco Malfoy_ , and he thought he was already used to it, but now... Now Rose Weasley has deffended him when that mark was about to isolate him again, and he's so happy because apparently and for once he's going to have friends. And one of them is beside him, grabbing his hand, seeing him as Scorpius and nothing else because she has no idea about his painful mark, she doesn't know whose man he's son of, she knows nothing about him except what she sees and she wants to be his friend. Fighting some tears in his eyes, Scorpius nods, and pulls her quickly to Hogwarts when they land. He knows something good is waiting for him inside that ancient castle, whatever that turns out to be.

**1.3**

Forming a totally irregular queue, the children are screaming, trembling, full with excitement and nervous about what it's going to happen next. They are observed by the rest of the castle, by the older boys and girls that are already in and have nothing to worry about (or so the newcomers think at that important moment). Rose sees Caroline waving her hand at a blonde girl at the Ravenclaw table. And there he is, his cousin Albus, at last. She had been looking for him once they left the Hogwarts Express. He looks nervous and seems to refuse to look at any table. Even though his brother (and her cousin) James looks at him with intensity, as if he was worried. She doesn't have any older siblings there. She's the eldest. Hugo was still left at London with her parents. She smiles when she thinks about her family. And then McGonagall herself appears with the Sorting Hat, and everything begins. Rose doesn't really pay attention, except for when one of her recent friends sits on the chair.

"Beaumont, Liz!"

"Hufflepuff!"

She smiles and claps with the rest. Her kind heart, she thinks, is probably the reason for the Hat's choice

She gets lost in her thoughts again until they reach the G and the ponytailed sits on the chair.

"Slytherin!"

This time almost only the green and silver table claps, but all of the new friends do, and Liz at her table too, when Sasako walks to her place, still a little confused.

"Hunter, Helen!"

"Hufflepuff!"

Rose hears Liz scream with happiness when she knows she's no longer alone in there, and watches how she hugs Helen when she reaches the table. She smiles when she sees the awkward way the other girl returns the hug. They are there! It's real! She's finally at Hogwarts like she has dreamed about so much, and she has some new friends, and... Wait, will they still be friends? When they are put apart in four different houses? It has been just a little time, but she likes all of them (even Charles) and doesn't want to lose them. Her vision is a little blurry with tears when Scorpius, the first person she ever met in her brand new life, climbs to the chair. He is a Malfoy. They are not supposed to be friends, not even close. And then the Sorting Hat, after some long, tense seconds, screams:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A thick silence, even worst than the one in the express with their friends, falls. It's like everyone in the castle had stopped breathing. Even McGonagall looks a bit shocked, but then smiles and makes Scorpius stand up and walk.

Scorpius feels dizzy and confused. He doesn't know how, but he's walking, and reaches the red and gold table with fear. How is that even possible (him, a Malfoy)? Not even in Ravenclaw or even better, Hufflepuff. It has to be a mistake. He sits alone in a corner, with every other Gryffindor at the table looking at him suspiciously, not very happy to have him there. Almost everyone knows who he is. And a dark-haired, brown-eyed boy at the other side, who looks so much like his father, is frowning and shaking his head with disbelief. Scorpius looks at the two people he wants the most to make him company, still waiting in line. He can keep his promise to Sarah. They are going to be always together, because he knows for a fact she will be a Gryff. Even her curly, savage hair proves she's a real lion. He sees Rose smiling at him, telling him not to be afraid even without words. Maybe she's going to be a Gryffindor too. And they will be together, at least the three of them, Rose, Sarah and himself. He likes the thought.

_What a surprise_ , Rose is thinking. Nobody would ever expect a Malfoy to be a Gryffindor, but then Scorpius is. He's different. She knew when they first talked in that wagon that seems so far ago, the two of them alone meeting by chance. And now... what? Will she be in there too? She gets more and more nervous as boys and girls are selected. Then the P is there, and "Potter, Albus!" sits on that damned chair.

She notices that the whole Hall has become silent now. They are keeping their breaths, hoping this time it won't be such a surprise, maybe. Some look at Scorpius, and Scorpius looks at her, and she looks at her cousin while the Sorting Hat seems to be taking its time. It's shaking on top of Albus' head (well, it really is big enough to swallow his whole head) and then... a big shout.

"SLYTHERIN!"

It sounds like everyone there gasped, and Rose sees some heads shaking, some angry faces, some shocked faces, and his cousin walking to the silver and green table the same way poor Scorpius was before. There are whispers everywhere, they're gossiping about how a Malfoy got into Gryffindor, and a Potter into Slytherin! Rose is terrified. What's going on? And why does everyone care so much? She wants her parents there, she needs them. She's not sure anymore she wants to be here at all.

"River, Sarah!"

"Gryffindor!"

The red-dyed almost falls off the chair and runs directly to Scorpius to hug him, and Rose can see how relieved he is. Not alone anymore. She wants to feel that way, but her surname begins with one of the last letters.

"Song, Caroline!"

"Ravenclaw!"

She watches her friend scream with excitement and run to the blonde girl she has seen before. She's shocked to hear a _"Sis, you did it!"_ before they hug. Siblings? But they are so diff--

"Wander, Charles!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Her thoughts are interrupted by the boy who, proud of himself, leaves the Hat on the chair and walks slowly to his table. Oh, he was right about something, she snorts.

"Weasley, Rose!"

Oh, no. Her turn. She places the Hat but almost before even touching her hair, the Sorting Hat is ready:

"SLYTHERIN!"


	2. Nothing Common here except the Rooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children are about to know the girl that will change the course of their school years forever, along with getting used to what will be their home from now.

**2.1**

Rose tries to walk calmly and straight to her table. _Her table_. That green and silver decorated table that looks so strange to her. Is all this really happening? What if she fell asleep on the train and she's dreaming all of this? But it doesn't look like a dream. Not even a nightmare. She sees Albus smiling with relief, because she's going to be with him. She smiles back. Yeah, at least he's there too. She's not alone.

Even after McGonagall has given her welcome speech, and most of the dishes are clean of dessert, people's still gossiping about the shock of the elections of the Sorting Hat. Sarah tries to comfort Scorpius a little by telling some second year students to shut their mouths up when they chat looking directly at him. Scorpius smiles thinking how brave his friend is, but still... He looks at the Slytherin table, where Rose is talking a lot more relaxed with her cousin, a son of Harry Potter. She was never meant to be his friend, was she? They are in such different houses, they belong to such different worlds anyway.

When they all leave the Great Hall, Prefects are gathering the newcomers to guide them to their Common Rooms, but the group of friends manage to reunite into a small group with some hugs and laughter.

"I don't want to go to the Common Room, Emma, not yet. Let me say goodbye at least...", a sad Caroline is saying to that blonde girl that Rose heard to be her sister.

"Is that her sister?", Sarah says with the same astonishment everyone has.

"I think so", Rose whispers. "I heard she was calling her _sis_ before."

They all look at each other with the same thought: they are so different! As Hispanic-like as Caroline looks, with her brown skin, hair and eyes, the girl she has called Emma has pale skin, light blonde hair, and the bluest eyes. Or maybe violet. Or maybe grey. It's hard to tell, they seem to change with every movement she makes. Scorpius notices her hair doesn't look the same either as it swings back and forth with her steps. It's light blonde, then ash blonde, then... He turns to look at Sarah, and by her face he knows she has noticed it too.

"So these are your friends?", the mysterious girl says when they reach the group.

"Guys, this is my sister Emma", Caroline says with her shining smile.

"Hi", they all mumble, still a bit surprised.

"A very strange group you are", she looks around and then says in a lower tone, "Don't let anyone separate you, understand? There's this thing with the houses and everything, like you can only be friends with people in your same house and the hate between houses...", she turns her eyes for a second to Rose and Scorpius, standing side by side. "But the thing is, that's basically crap. And you look nice all together. So remember to stick together no matter what.

"We are going to stick together", a little trembling Scorpius says "We are already friends, right?", he looks at the rest.

"Of course we are", Rose says firmly. She places her hand in the middle of them all, and then the rest join their own like a team before the match begins.

"But Emma...", Caroline says while their hands are still joined, "why are you saying--?"

"I've learned a few things last year, sis. And I can tell you, they're going to try hard to tear your group apart. But that's why the Phoenix Squad exists."

The newcomers look at each other with surprise, then look at her.

"The Phoenix Squad?" it's Rose who asks the question.

"I have my special group too", Emma smiles proudly. "Here, take this." She handed Helen what it seemed like a little phoenix. "We still don't have anyone at Hupplepuff, so you need one of these."

"Emma...?", Caroline looked at her sister like she was a whole new person.

"It's our way to communicate for the meetings. When you see a light coming out of it, put it as close as possible to your ear, because it's barely a whisper. Now we don't have more time, everyone is going to their common rooms. I'll let the ones at Slytherin and Gryffindor know who you are and everything so they can explain."

And without any other word, she pushed them to the rest of newcomers gathering around the Prefects, and disappear.

"Don't look at me", Caroline whispered when they made the silen question, "That girl was not my sister."

"Tomorrow evening, no matter what they say, we'll have our own meeting...at the library." Rose rolled her eyes when she saw their faces, "We'll meet there, then we'll see."

"Deal", Scorpius whispered.

"Deal", the rest said.

Sarah pulled Scorpius thanks to their joined hands with excitement. They were going to see the place where they were going to live for the rest of the school year. And they already had a mystery to solve. The very first day! Scorpius thought about that Phoenix Square thing. Who will be waiting for them?

"Sarah", he whispered. "What do you think about the Phoenix thing?"

"I don't really know what to think, Scorpius", she whispered back, "it's all so new to me, you know. That's just another new and exciting thing."

She smiled with shiny eyes, and Scorpius smiled back because of it. Did that really matter? He had friends. That was new for him too. So he could understand Sarah's joy.

They barely heard the password for the Fat Lady (who made them giggle a bit with her ridiculous voice and manners), and when they were finally in... Some older Gryffindors looked at them with amusement, like planning ways to annoy them for the rest of the year. Sarah looked at all of them with disdain, and with her chin up entered the room and looked at everything with a smile.

"Scorpius! We're here!"

"Yeah...", Scorpius looked around, "Who do you think will be a member of...?"

Scorpius couldn't finish the sentence as an older Gryffindor pushed him and made him fall to the floor. Some laughed, and Sarah looked around furiously.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?", she faced the older student with no fear at all. He didn't listen to her, and looked at Scorpius, who was sitting on the floor, too shocked to do nothing.

"You Malfoy, this is not your place", some others nodded in agreement, "Lions don't like filthy snakes."

"Are you calling yourself a lion when you're not even worth the name of a rat?", Sarah said again, placing herself between the bully and Scorpius.

"Repeat that!", the bully shouted.

"You are not even...", Sarah started, and when the bully was about to reach her, someone stood between them too.

There was a silence when everyone saw James Potter facing his older housemate with his wand ready to work.

"That's enough", he calmly said.

And for some reason, the bully went away just shrugging his shoulders, like the whole thing really didn't matter anyway.

Sarah looked confused at the dark-haired, then turned around to help Scorpius stand back. He whispered a "thank you", then looked at Potter even more confused than her.

"Th-thank you", he said with a weak whisper.

"It's nothing", James didn't look at him but at his friend with an impressed look on his face. "You're...Sarah? Sarah River?"

That handsome interesting boy was not only talking to her, he even knew her name. Sarah didn't want to admit she was -that- impressed, but she was. She replied with pretended indifference.

"Maybe."

James opened his eyes widely with surprise, but then smiled.

"Maybe?"

"Yes, maybe. Why do you want to know?"

Shaking his head with a smile, he searched somewhere under his shirt and picked up a pendant with the form of a little phoenix.

"Does this answer your question?", he asked with a smirk.

"Oh", both Sarah and Scorpius whispered and looked at each other.

"Yeah, whatever", James said with a cocky gesture, "Let's search a good place to talk about this."

He looked around and made them follow him to a dark quiet corner not so far from the chimney where nobody could hear them. The two new students were eager to know more about the whole thing, and smiled at each other with excitement.

"Well, here's the thing. When a meeting is placed I'll know and I will tell you and we will go. You must not say anything to anybody, understand?"

Again with the cocky attitude. Sarah snorted.

"But..."

"You'll know more when we meet the rest", he knew what she was going to say. "I don't have time and this is definitely not the place."

He grabbed some of his rebel hair and pulled it back. And without any other word, he left them with even more unanswered questions and confusion than before.

At Slytherin's, Rose, Albus and Sey also looked around to find any clue of who could be the Phoenix Square member. Rose felt a shiver when they entered that dark room, so different from the house full of light she had always lived in. Albus should be thinking something similar, by the look on his face. Sey didn't make any face, she calmly walked in and looked around.

"Rose Weasley?", a voice behind them suddenly said, and they all jumped with surprise before turning around. "And yeah, you must be Albus Potter." It was a strange girl who was speaking. With dark, long hair (just slightly red at the end) but a very pale skin, and eyes that were mostly as green as the decorations. There was something about her that was a bit scary, but interesting too. "I'm Bex Lenoir and I'm a Phoenix Square member", she abruptly said. "Emma has told us to introduce ourselves, so here I am."

The new ones looked at each other a little confused, then Rose assumed the leadership as always.

"Well then, I'm Rose Weasley, and these are my cousin Albus Potter and my friend Sey Gray."

The girl called Bex looked at the confident pose of Rose, the shy shaking of Albus' head, and the half smile of Sey. Were they so little last year, or it was just her imagination that made them look like that?

"Did Emma explain how this works?", Bex showed them her phoenix pendant.

"There's a light...and a whisper", Sey softly said.

Bex laughed out loud.

"Yeah, basically. I'll let you know when we have a meeting, don't worry", she was about to say something, but then suddenly seemed to change her mind, "I'm bad at explanations so for now that's all you have to know. If you need help here", she pointed around them, "let me know, okay? You two should hurry to find a room you can share", she then said to Rose and Sey. "And you...", she looked at Albus, "Just be careful who you share a room with."

She looked worried, so Albus gulped but nodded.

"I'm going now. Bye.", and she left.

The three friends still remained silent for a bit, then Rose said:

"Well...anybody else thinks all this is too weird?"

"Definitely", Sey laughed.

Albus shrugged his shoulders.

"Will you wait for me tomorrow?", he said to Rose.

"We both will", Rose smiled, looking at

"Yeah...sorry, I didn't mean...", he looked at Sey, who smiled.

"It's okay", she shook her head. "We'll wait so we can go all together for breakfast, Albus."

"See you tomorrow, Al"

And the girls went upstairs. Albus still looked around and sighed, then left as well.

Helen and Liz were not expecting anyone to join them, so they just looked around to get familiar with the place, and go find a room where two beds were free for them. The other girls in their room went once they were settled, so they jumped into their beds and sarted talking about everything that had happened that day.

"I'm...not sure if I will know how to...use this?", Helen looked at the little phoenix immensely worried, then an idea came to her mind, "Maybe you should be the one carrying it" She handed it to her new friend.

Liz shook her head with that sweet smile of hers.

"No. Emma gave it to you, not to me. It's you who must carry it. I'm sorry."

"But I don't think I..."

"No, Helen. You'll do perfectly fine. Emma knows that, and that's why she gave you the phoenix, don't you think?"

"She didn't know, she just had to give it to one of us and it was me, but nothing more."

"I was nearer, Helen", she said then in a soft tone.

"What?", she frowned.

"I was closer to Emma than you, she could have given it to me, but then she chose you. So she must have her reasons."

"I don't think so...", but Helen said that not very convincingly.

Liz laughed very softly, then sighed and shook her head.

"What isn't really fair is that we're the ones without an older one here. Everyone must know at this moment what the Phoenix Square is, and who else is in it, while we are here full of confusion and doubts and everything."

Helen shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess, I'm nervous enough about tomorrow though"

"Tomorrow?"

"You know, the lessons and everything? Like, I hope I won't be a complete disaster or something."

"We all are new, and we all are learning", Liz smiled.

Helen shook her head affirmatively.

"I guess so. Well, I would like to sleep now if you don't mind, I need to rest."

"I think so too. I'm exhausted and who knows why, if we've spent half the day sitting on a train."

They both laughed.

"Good night, Liz"

"Good night Helen"

They closed their eyes with a smile.

Caroline moved in her chair, impatiently waiting for her sister to speak. She however looked at the dancing flames in the chimney, like they were about to tell her something important. Charles frowned; he sometimes was not really sure if his friend's sister was sane at all. Mystery surrounded her as if it was a second skin. Or at least that was the impression she gave.

"Err... Emma?", Caroline said.

"Yes, sis?", she didn't take her eyes off of the flames.

"Are you going to say something?", the tone of Caroline's voice was clearly anxious. "Come on!", she grabbed her sister's arm so she finally looked at her. "What is going on and where is my sister?"

"I'm still...me", Emma smiled. "Perhaps I should've told you about this at home, but to be honest, I almost... I was about not to tell you at all."

"What?!", Caroline exclaimed.

"Well, sis, it's all about the group you made in the trip", Emma still smiled. "All of you together made the difference."

"So, if I came here all by myself you..."

"I wouldn't have told you", she softly said. "Not until you had found out by yourself, or something like that."

"But that's...!"

"...my duty as older sister", she interrupted with a gesture of her hand. "More when you've ended up in this house, where rules seem to be important, but even more...", she spoke lower now, "where traitors are at every corner."

Caroline and Charles exchanged a half incredulous, half scared look.

"What do you mean by traitors?", Charles frowned. "The great house of..."

Emma interrupted his proud-of-Ravenclaw speech.

"You're new here", she shook her head. "You don't really know how Ravenclaws can be like."

Charles seemed to be about to argue that, but then it was Caroline who interrupted:

"But what about the Phoenix Square?"

"Wait...just wait. Patience is a virtue, little sister."

"Don't you dare..."

"Emma! We're sorry."

Caroline was interrupted by a boy with a funny mohawk on his head. He was a little taller than Emma and kept a not very serious, not very smiley expression. He handed some notes to the blonde girl, then turned around to watch the new ones.

"Maria and Jud are about to come. There was this boy-boy couple in the corridors and well...you know how they both are." He smiled but with just a little movement so one could barely see it.

Emma smiled too with a shaking head.

"You know, everyone has their own entertainment."

"Then these are two of them?", he changed the subject.

"She is my sister Caroline."

"No way! But she's..."

"My opposite? Yes Adrian, thanks for stating the obvious", she rolled her eyes.

"And he is..."

"Charles Wander", the brownhaired inflated his chest, "and one day..."

"He is Adrian von Sausage", Emma interrupted with a serious face.

"Emma! Seriously? With the kids too?"

"We're just a year younger", Charles said.

"And I'm not von Sausage", the mohawk boy rolled his eyes. "My name is Adrian von Schwarzhirn", he said proudly.

"Schwarz means black", the youngest boy frowned, maybe hirn means horn?", he pointed at his head.

"What...? No!", Adrian was confused. "I mean...this is not a horn."

"What does hirn mean then?", the Ravenclaw part in Caroline quickly asked.

"Brain", Adrian looked at the two children and then at Emma. She smiled and nodded.

"«Black brain»?", Charles wondered what a bunch of crazy people he was meeting since he got in the train.

"Yes", Adrian smiled with the same mysterious gesture as Emma. "Do you want me to go find those two girls? I think they are too much into that entertainment, as you called it.", he said to Emma.

"Are you going to say something?!", Caroline almost begged.

"Emma?", Adrian insisted.

"Go find them, I want them to meet each other tonight."

Despite what she had just said, Adrian stood in his place. Emma looked at him and he rolled his eyes.

"The magic word?"

She snorted rolling her eyes too.

"Pleeeeease?"

"That's better", Adrian smiled and left.

Emma was about to return to her intense observation of the flames, but Caroline reached her arm again.

"Emma, that's enough, don't you think? Say something! Charles and I are here dying to know."

"Well yeah... What do you want to know?"

"For example what is exactly this gang you seem to be the boss of, and why you've «chosen» us", the irony in the last verb was obvious. "What is this all about? I think I don't know you at all."

The blonde girl frowned, and now Charles also realised how her hair seemed to darken. He however thought it was the little light in the room that made him see strange things.

"Okay, let's sit down", she looked around and realised they were the last ones left and nodded. "Caroline...you know how much I waited for the day I could finally study at Hogwarts to come", Caroline nodded impatiently, and nervous. Charles moved on his chair with an excited movement too. "But you also know my feelings about tolerance and acceptation, and my reasons for those feelings..."

"Always so formal", Caroline rolled her eyes. "Could you please get to the point?"

Emma snorted.

"Me no likey troll-brained humans, yo", Charles shook his head but smiled, and Caroline raised her eyebrows in a are-you-kidding-me way. "No likey people that mess with good boys and girls just because who they are, what they wear, without knowing the person at all", she became more serious as she finished the sentence. "I made friends at the train, just like you, and once we got here and the Hat sorted us apart, everyone tried to keep us apart too", Emma shook her head. "Some people just said It's always been like this, some got too far by doing all kinds of things to make us angry with each other", she looked sad with memories.

"No way...", Caroline whispered. "What kind of things?"

"It doesn't matter", she shook her hand like shooing away some fly. "We got through everything and managed to stick together, so when I saw you all...you can imagine"

The two new students nodded with comprehension.

"I needed you to know that houses don't matter", she said with energy. "The colors of a tie have nothing to do with the pulse in the neck who wears it."

Caroline looked at her sister with eyes wide open. This summer she had noticed something different in her, but she had been studying magic, and spent most of the year away from home, and besides... Her sister had never been what we would call the "common type". She was a step closer to be adult, which she found a little scary, and one more step away from the childhood still so present in herself, and her new friends for that matter. Would they become like that when the year finished? What things were in the castle for them to find out? What things would they learn?

Knowledge had always been so cherished by her, and now... That knowledge seemed something heavy to burden.

"I don't care", Charles said with his chin up. "I like my friends, and I have some in all the houses", Charles thought about something. "Well, maybe Rose, I wasn't surprised she got into Slytherin, really..."

"Charles", Caroline rolled her eyes.

"What? She..."

"Well if they want to keep those things in private they should not be snogging like that in the corridors where anyone can see them", the three of them turned around when they hear the voice, and saw Adrian entering the room with two girls that walked giggling and shaking her arms but not in an annoying way.

"Yeah, nobody thinks in the perverts", Emma smiled. "You have rights like anybody else!"

The two girls rolled her eyes but smiled too.

"Hey, 'sup." The girl with the long, curly dark hair waved her hand at Caroline and Charles.

"Hi!", this one had her hair not so long, and more brownish, and had a surprising brown skin for her Asian features.

"Guys, these are Maria Park and Jud Akaike", Emma introduced. "Girls, these are Charles Wander and my little sister Caroline", she smiled at her instantaneously surprised faces.

"Your sister? Sure", Maria looked at her.

"Why is everyone so surprised?", she shook her head, but smiled at the same time.

"Well, maybe because...uhmmm...you're like day and night, like black and white, like...", Jud started.

Emma laughed loudly but then said:

"You know my parents are totally different too!, she's just like Mom while I'm more like Dad"

Caroline smiled.

"Well then it's all done here? Can I go to bed now?", Adrian yawned.

"Yes that's all for today", and the older ones started to walk to the stairs, but Caroline and Charles still had so many questions, they looked at each other and begged them to stay. "It's late, sis, Charles"

And she just went to the bedrooms, followed by her three friends.

"Well, this is disappointing", Charles said.

"Very", Caroline agreed.

But then they left too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the introduction of Emma Song, who will be one of the main characters in this fic. I hope the fact that she's an original character, far from being a problem it will be something you enjoy.
> 
> As always, just please let me know what you think! -E


	3. Of bonds and friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We know a little more about the already-there Phoenix Square, and the will-soon-be choice of joining and fighting for what they want.

3

Scorpius woke up just to see the very first rays of sun through the little window in the room. He stood very quiet in his bed to check any sound. There was only silence, broken just by his roommates' breathing and their movements while sleeping. Everyone asleep then. He was happy he wouldn't have to exchange any word with them. He didn't get along very much with any of them. He chose this room...well, he didn't. It was the only one with an empty bed for him. He didn't care. He got out of bed, quickly but carefully dressed up, grabbed his bag full of material already (he had put the things he was going to need in last night) and went to the Common Room.

It was completely empty; he thought then Nobody wakes up this early and smiled. He sat on the best chair by the fire, picked the first book he found from the bag, and started reading it. Not exactly reading but getting familiar with the text. He liked to read the titles of the lessons and think about them. Later he would know if he was right with his suppositions about every subject.

It was not much longer after when someone entered the room as well and looked around. Sarah smiled when she saw his friend by the fire, so focused on the book he didn't even lift his head up until she reached him.

"Good morning, Scorpius!"

"Good morning", he whispered, and then she ran to the portrait, too anxious to remain still. "Hey, wait, please, Sarah!", he shouted, and putting his book back into the bag ran after her.

"I'm sorry, I'm too excited!", she laughed as they ran through the corridors, and Scorpius smiled too.

It was so quick that any of them could have stopped it. Sarah crashed into someone and because of the impact she lost balance and almost fell to the floor. Then she could see, and Scorpius with a worried look too, what it seemed to be a teacher trying to regain his own balance and looking at her with astonishment.

"Well, that was unexpected!", he laughed then, surprising the two kids. "You shouldn't be running in the corridors, you know", he then added in a more serious tone.

"I-I'm sorry Professor", she mumbled.

"Ah, the first day at Hogwarts", he smiled, his eyes full of memories. "Make sure you both win a lot of rubies for our house, okay?", he blinked at them. "I'm Professor Longbottom and I teach Herbology, apart from that I'm the Head of Gryffindor so I expect you to make me proud."

Sarah nodded vigorously, Scorpius' expression turned sad. Longbottom... He didn't think he would make him proud, never. Not even if he won the House Cup all alone.

"We will", Sarah smiled, already having a good impression of their teacher.

"I'm sure. Young Malfoy, be careful with your bag or you'll find it empty by the end of the day"

Scorpius freezed with surprise, stared at him and blinked repeatedly, and then looked at his bag. He hadn't zipped it correctly before and the books were about to fall out of it.

"Th-thank you", he whispered as he put everything back to its place. He didn't look him in the eyes, too embarrassed.

Neville smiled and messed his hair up.

"You're welcome, as long as you make me proud"

"But..."

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy but I'm in a hurry, actually. See you."

And with a last paternal look, he went away.

-oOo-

Rose inmediately noticed Scorpius' expression, so serious and far away, as she entered the Great Hall. She walked to the Gryffindor table and sat next to him.

"Everything's fine?", she asked.

"Oh, good morning Rose", Scorpius smiled shyly but brightly when he saw who she was. "I'm okay, why?"

"I saw your face and...", Rose felt a little awkward at that moment. She didn't even think, she was worried and...

"I think it's because we met Professor Longbottom", Sarah told Rose.

Scorpius could barely hide his reaction to the name: he turned rigid on his seat, and started to pay a lot of attention to his food. Sarah and Rose exchanged a look and a smile of comprehension and Rose nodded.

"What happened with Uncle Neville?", she softly asked Scorpius.

Scorpius' smile was sad now, though neither Rose nor Sarah knew it was because of the familiarity she used to talk about someone who worried him so much.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just nervous for the lessons."

Rose didn't believe a thing, but some Gryffindors looked at her already, and she remembered. She was a Slytherin. She was not welcome there. Though not so far away at the same table, her cousin James looked at her with an encrypted look. I'm sorry, she wanted to tell him. But not as sorry as Al, she thought. She knew by the way his shy cousin avoided to look at the red and golden table. He felt like he had disappointed his older brother, being sorted for Slytherin. The house of enemies for their family, both Potter and Weasley. Nonsense. She stood up, waved goodbye to Scorpius and Sarah and left.

At the Ravenclaw table, Adrian looked at the newcomers and then Emma with some concern on his face.

"Are you completely sure about this, Emma? Shouldn't we...?", he whispered, though nobody could have heard him with the noise that hundreds of conversations made.

"Shouldn't we...?"

"We had our own first year here, you know. They should have theirs, right?"

Emma looked at him intensely before answering.

"You mean I'm making a mistake by introducing them to the Phoenix Square this early?"

"I don't mean they can't enter in the future, but..."

"Well now it's too late anyway. I just... I wanted them to be protected from what we went through, you know. To give them some backup."

"I know, Emma", the mohawk boy smiled.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I know it's been a little...sudden. I know that James doesn't exactly approve either, but..."

"James approves", Adrian patted her on the shoulder. "He always does"

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes it takes more time for him. Sometimes he's just...stubborn. Like this one. He's so blinded by that old rivalry between the two houses, and even more, he's taken the rivalry between their fathers to this moment with Scorpius. And then there's your own rivalry, Emma", he smiled.

"My...?", she seemed surprised.

"You and James. Ever since you met for the first time."

"We don't..."

"Don't you dare deny that", he laughed. "Because the whole castle knows about Song and Potter, the frenemies"

"The what!?"

"You know, friends and enemies. Enemies is not exactly the word, but... Your fights are famous, almost as the things you both can achieve when you work together"

"Because he can be such a jerk", she rolled her eyes.

"Are you talking about me again, Song?" James had approached just to hear her last sentence.

"Who else has Jerk as his middle name, Potter?"

"I don't know. Who has Grumpy as hers?", he pulled his hair back in his cocky way.

"Your grandfather did that stupid thing too", she suddenly said.

"What?", a surprised James said.

"That thing with the hair", she gestured it. "McGonagall told me, she said you two were so much alike"

James was first stunned, then a little sad, and Emma seemed to realise what she had just said.

"She said so?", he whispered, then returned to his own smug self. "Well, I'm incredibly good-looking and smart and funny, and I think that's what he was, so I guess it's true"

"Mamarracho", she mumbled.

This time even Adrian, who witnessed the conversation with more than one roll of his eyes and a slight smile, looked at her with a surprised and funny expression.

"What!?"

"It's not what, it's pardon", her Ravenclaw self came to surface, "and that was Spanish for I can't believe he's so blind" her smile was as conceited as his.

"Yeah, sure", he frowned and tried to approach her, but Adrian didn't let him.

"Let it be, James", he tried to make some peace.

"How do you do it, Song?"

"I do what?", she frowned too.

He faced her despite Adrian's efforts, so close that she could feel his agitated breathing on her face.

"Turning everyone into your puppets"

And before she could answer, he walked away, glancing with defeat at boys and blinking with a sparkling smile at girls. He was indeed so like his grandfather, even though he never met him. Emma knew that was a soft spot for him, but even so she couldn't help herself sometimes, when she got mad. Especially if she got mad at him.

Her frenemy.

"As I was saying...", she almost jumped when Adrian spoke.

She rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know"

"I'm not sure about that", he said in a very low tone. Emma looked at him, but all he did was putting that mysterious smile that was a twin of her own. "I forgot a book at my room, so we'll meet at Herbology, okay?"

And an astonished Emma was left with her unfinished breakfast. She looked at her sister, who chatted with that happy but nervous face of the first day at Hogwarts. Had she been too quick, asking her and her friends to join the Phoenix Square? She was thinking about what was best for her sister. And those kids... The Weasley girl and the Malfoy boy. Even James' brother Albus. They deserved to be protected, and she knew James was glad about that. Not so much when he knew there was a Malfoy among them. Names. It was always about names and labels.

Outside the castle she met Bex and they both walked quickly to the greenhouse where Herbology was held, as this class was shared by Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

"Why, you are a little late today. Professor Longbottom is going to be upset", Emma teased her friend.

"You are late too", she calmly replied.

"But I'm not his favourite student", she smiled as she saw her friend rolling her eyes.

"Neither am I"

"Of course you are. You were the only one that got more than a hundred per cent last year."

"And that bothers you, huh? Being the perfect Ravenclaw and all", Bex said with a half smile.

Emma snorted in a not at all feminine way and pushed her friend into the greenhouse. Bex pushed back, and they let themselves go so much that Neville had to get through the rest of the students who were laughing and encouraging to see what was going on.

"Hey! What's this mess about?", he found Bex holding Emma by the neck trying to choke her enough to stop that stupid fight. When she saw Neville she opened her eyes widely and quickly let go of her trying to regain some composture. "Miss Song!", it was the name Neville said though, "Why am I not surprised? Beggining the year just as you finished last one."

"Having fun? Well yeah, Professor! Happiness is a good thing, isn't it? It's healthy and everything", she played that innocent role she always used with teachers.

"I'm not sure if being choked would make me happy, and it's definitely not healthy", Neville almost smiled. "Which leads me to Miss Lenoir" Bex didn't look directly at him, suddenly very interested in the floor at her feet, but didn't blush or anything either. "Well done with that karate hold", he patted her on the shoulder. "Miss Song needs someone to teach her a lesson sometimes"

And with a smile that made Bex stop her breathing he came back to his place to start the lesson.

"SEE? You're so his favourite", Emma whispered as they went to the place where Adrian, Maria and Jud waved their hands.

"You're saying that because I was winning", Bex said with a conceited smile.

"What do you say?", Maria asked.

"Bex is Neville's pet, and that's a fact"

"I'm not anyone's pet!", Bex said a little louder than she should, which made Neville look at them again.

"Are you trying to have another five points taken from your houses? Apart from the ones you lost earlier"

"No way! Seriously?", Emma shouted without noticing what she was doing. I mean... We behave, Professor. Bex was just warning me from taking those mandrakes out of their pots."

"She did well", Neville frowned but smile too, "I don't want anyone dead in my class. It's bad for my reputation, you know."

The whole class laughed.

"Oh... That must be why she was so agitated then"

Her friends tried their best not to laugh out loud. Even now they were still shocked at the way she put that innocent face and sweet voice with such ease.

"That must be", Neville was clearly amused. "That's why I should give five points to Slytherin, for taking care of one's friends is something that Hogwarts values"

And without any other word, he continued with the lesson. As Emma freezed with surprise, Adrian was the one who said with a laugh:

"Wow. I'm sorry Bex, but you really are Neville's pet."

Bex punched him on the shoulder, but smiled when she turned her back on them.

"I'd like to have Neville in the Phoenix Square", Emma whispered then.

"Uhm yeah, because he'd love to join our gang" Jud filled her sentence with irony.

"I'm serious, I think he'd love it", Emma waved her hands with emphasis. "Besides, I've heard some stories."

"What stories?", Bex sceptically inquired.

"James once told me..."

She was interrupted by the noise of the rest of the students moving and picking up tools, ready to work. None of them had been paying attention! So they focused on finding what they had to do, and the conversation was over.

-oOo-

Rose had no problem finding the library for the appointment at six on the evening. Books seemed to call her just as they did with her mother. She liked to read, not so much for the knowledge but for evading the real and sometimes unpleasant world. Not that her life had been full of misery, for her family was a happy and quite wealthy one; but some days...she just wanted a way out.

So, at six o'clock on the evening, she was the first one to arrive at the library. She didn't go in, but every time someone opened the door (once or twice, it was too early for students using it that much), she inhaled that wonderful smell. Ancient paper and ink. One of her favourites. She wanted to go insidde and bury herself among those beauties, but she couldn't. At least when Caroline and Charles arrived, she had some distraction.

"Rose! You're here already. It took some time for us to find the exact spot", Caroline smiled cheerfully.

The fire-haired girl could recognise that expression on both their faces: the amount of knowledge absorbed that day, the things that were still unknown, and a bit of anxiety for the homework not done yet. So Ravenclaw of them that it made her smile.

"I had some indications from my mother and a bit of luck", she shrugged her shoulders.

"Will the rest find the way? Maybe we should go and guide them", Charles said, with a little presumptuous tone.

"You know, sometimes you look more Slytherin than myself", Rose snapped.

"I don't have your forked tongue", he replied.

"Guys, guys", Caroline looked concerned. She didn't like quarrelling at all, even less between friends.

"At that moment Scorpius and Sarah arrived too, and looked relieved to see them, as if they were not so sure they were heading the right way.

"Hare you are! We almost got lost", Sarah laughed, then stopped when she felt the tension in the air. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing", Rose replied too suddenly.

Charlie snorted, but then Scorpius hurried and tried to distract them from whatever it was by saying:

"I managed to lift the feather", he shyly smiled.

Sarah smiled sweetly and proudly too.

"Yes, Scorpius is the best! He was the only one in the class to get it, and by the third time! My feather looked like it wanted to jump but did nothing", she laughed at her own lack of skills.

"I'm sure you'll do it soon with some practise", Scorpius smiled to her housemate.

"Not everyone are as good as you are", she shook her head.

"Come on! Sarah, Scorpius has been around magic all his life, and you haven't. Don't be so hard on yourself", Caroline squeezed her arm.

"Well, maybe that's it. Maybe... I'm not supposed to be here at all", she said in a very low tone, looking at the floor.

There was a brief silence, broken by Charles clucking his tongue.

"I surely doubt Hogwarts had sent you a letter if that was the case", he felt a little awkward when everyone stared at him, and added: "They don't do such mistakes."

The rest of them agreed and spoke some other words of encouragement till the red-dyed felt better and smiled. Scorpius smiled privately at Charles too, knowing that his know-it-all intervention was completely for that purpose, and he could see how the Ravenclaw boy almost smiled in return before going back to his stiff gesture.

"How come there's only you three already here?", Sarah asked them, "Why didn't you come with Sey and Albus?", then looked at Rose.

"I've been touring a bit around the castle", she shrugged her shoulders. "After lunch, they went to our Common Room while I just walked around", she showed her bag, still on her back, like to prove her point.

"Here they are!", they all heard then a few steps away. It was Sey, followed by Albus, Liz and Helen, who panted but smiled, relieved to see them too. "We were starting to worry we'd never get in time", she also explained when they were all together.

"I don't understand why cellphones are not allowed at Hogwarts", Liz said then. "It would have been useful to say we were late."

"Yeah! I don't get that either", Sarah added. "I would love to write a few tweets about what I'm doing right now"

They all laughed, except for Scorpius, who was confused.

"How are you going to write tweets...?"

"No way! You don't know about Twitter?"

"I don't even have a cellphone, for that matter", he shyly muttered.

Sarah looked like she was going to explain, but then Rose said:

"Look, we need to discuss about this Phoenix Square thing and everything"

"I think it's a great idea, and my sister has me completely...surprised. She never told me..."

"Looks like a break-all-the-rules project. I'm not sureif I approve at all, even less if I want to be a part of it", Charles frowned and shook his head.

"I want to be a part of it", Sarah looked excited.

"Me too", Scorpius nodded.

"I like the...idea, and it seems real fun, but...", Helen rubbed absently the little phoenix in her hand.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm that brave", Liz had also her doubts.

"I...just think we don't have enough information yet", Rose shook her head. "Well, at least I don't, or Sey or Albus, because the girl in our house told us almost nothing."

Then she faced the rest of the children like asking What do you know then?, and Sarah shook her head.

"James didn't say much either"

Albus looked at her with eyes wide open.

"James? As in... James Potter?", he barely whispered.

"Yes", Sarah looked confused at first, but then she smiled and grabbed Albus by his arms. "Oh! He's your brother, isn't he, Albus? Well he's in this thing too! He's the Gryffindor we met. The only one, apparently."

"If James is in it...", the shy boy looked at his cousin. "I think I'll enter too"

Rose nodded.

"Well, knowing that James is a part of it makes me more comfortable with the whole thing if I'm honest"

"It's a great thing, Rose", Caroline spoke then, anxious to show them what she knew. "My sister met her friends in the train just like we did, and then they were sorted for different houses, and everyone tried to keep them apart... She didn't say much, but I can tell by the look on her face that it was awful. She created this thing, and want us to be part of it, to stop other people from suffering whatever they suffered last year. I think, and I'm not saying this because she's my sister, that it's a wonderful idea and something I want to be a part of"

Silence fell, and nobody dared to look at each other, too stunned for what she had just said. This was their first day here, but separation among houses had been clear enough already. Even when they knew they could get along, like in some lessons they shared, the rest of the time they would be spending it with people from their own house, and that makes friendship, close friendship, a little difficult among people from different houses.

"I'm in", Sarah finally broke the silence.

That seemed to break everyone else's stone-like postures, and they started to nod and mutter words of agreement.

Rose put her hand in the centre, and they all joined hands again as a team. They had a bond and they knew it; and the Phoenix Square apparently wanted to protect that bond.

How were they going to refuse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will this be a disaster or a marvelous wonder?  
> Don't be shy, you adventurous reader!   
> -E


End file.
